An Ancient Chemosensory Mechanism Brings New Life to Coral Reefs

Morse, Aileen N. C.; Iwao, Kenji; Baba, Masasuke; Shimoike, Kazuyuki; Hayashibara, Takeshi; Ōmori, Makoto

doi:10.2307/1542917

Cited by 180 publications

(138 citation statements)

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“…The cue required for the settlement of many species of coral larvae originates from CCA (Morse et al 1988, 1996, Golbuu & Richmond 2007, Kitamura et al 2007, Price 2010, Ritson-Williams et al 2010. Morse et al (1996) found the cue from CCA to be a cell-wall bound polysaccharide with a high molecular weight.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Morse et al (1996) found the cue from CCA to be a cell-wall bound polysaccharide with a high molecular weight. Calcareous substrata, such as coral skeleton or rubble without CCA may also induce settlement (Heyward & Negri 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Anthozoans, particularly corals, utilize a diverse range of cues. Cues can be associated with crustose coralline algae (CCA) (Morse et al 1988, 1996, Baird et al 2003, Baird & Morse 2004, Harrington et al 2004, Golbuu & Richmond 2007, Kitamura et al 2007, Ritson-Williams et al 2010, Price 2010 or marine bacteria and biofilms (Negri et al 2001, Webster et al 2004. Four species of Acropora (A. tenuis, A. millepora, A. palmata, and A. cervicornis) have been shown to preferentially settle on a particular species of CCA, Titanoderma prototypum (Harrington et al 2004, Ritson-Williams et al 2010, which is also preferred by other hard corals (Pocillopora spp.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Larvae of Pocillopora damicornis (Anthozoa) settle and metamorphose in response to surface-biofilm bacteria

Tran¹,

Hadfield²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

123

105

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Larvae of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis require a natural cue from surface-biofilm bacteria to select a suitable substratum on which to attach, metamorphose, and grow into a benthic polyp. In this study, bacteria were isolated from various reef surfaces, including different species of corals and algae, and glass slides that had been placed in the field for 1 to 2 mo. Settlement assays were conducted on monospecific biofilms of bacteria isolated from the field. Of 52 different isolates, 3 showed strongly inductive capacity, whereas the others were moderately to non-inductive. The isolates were identified by sequencing their 16S rRNA genes, and their phylogenetic relationships were then analyzed. There was no correlation between the inductive capacities of individual bacterial species and their phylogenetic relationships nor between their inductive capacities and the surfaces from which they were isolated. Varying the biofilm densities affected settlement only by a strongly inductive bacterial species. Different bacterial species may also affect the inductive capacities of other species when combined. The new data provided here broaden our understanding of the roles of bacteria in the recruitment of coral larvae.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Larvae of Pocillopora damicornis (Anthozoa) settle and metamorphose in response to surface-biofilm bacteria

Tran¹,

Hadfield²

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

123

105

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“…However, conditioning of the substrata is essential before attempting larval settlement because larvae follow special chemical signals emitted by certain bacteria and coralline algae on the substrata (cf. Morse et al 1996). They settle well onto substrata that have been placed on the seabed a month or more beforehand, allowing coralline algae and bacterial films to grow on the surface.…”

Section: Technique Of Rearing and Transplantation Using Asexual Propamentioning

confidence: 99%

Degradation and restoration of coral reefs: Experience in Okinawa, Japan

Ōmori

2010

Marine Biology Research

101

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Coral reefs in Okinawa, Japan, have declined due mostly to human pressures. There are still possiblities to restore coral reefs locally by amelioration or removal of the local chronic stressors. Political support, scientific information, and the will of local stakeholders are crucial for successful amelioration. Development of techniques for restoration by artificial efforts such as underwater silviculture and transplantation are definitely required. Coral propagules for transplantation may be cultured by either of two approaches: asexual or sexual propagation. The rehabilitation of coral reefs by means of asexual propagation is simple and less labour-intensive compared to sexual techniques. However, most of the transplanted pieces share the donors' limited DNA, giving the reef a smaller gene pool. On the other hand, sexual propagation may result in genetically more diverse corals, but is labour-intensive and more expensive. Both techniques require devices for rearing after transplantation. This will become one of the key areas of research in the near future. Some 4-year-old colonies of Acropora tenuis, cultured from eggs and transplanted to the seabed at Akajima, Okinawa, had grown to 20Á25 cm in diameter and initially spawned in June 2009. This indicated the possibility of using this technique to assist local coral reef restoration. Although the small scale of success so far may not be significant, given the wide range of degradation of coral reefs, certain methods of rehabilitation have proved promising enough to continue our endeavour.

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“…Some laboratory experiments have suggested that the settlement competency of Acropora larvae begins from the age of 3 d, peaks at 5 to 7 d, and is maintained over 30 d (Morse et al 1996, Nishikawa et al 2003, Harrison 2006, Nozawa & Harrison 2008). However, the exact peak settlement period of Acropora corals has not been determined; even the shape of the settlement peak (steep or gentle) is unclear.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rapid in situ settlement following spawning by Acropora corals at Ishigaki, southern Japan

Suzuki¹,

Arakaki²,

Hayashibara³

2011

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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The principal role of larval recruitment in reef corals is still unknown: it could be for selfrecruitment or long-range dispersal. In this study, peak settlement period, which is ecologically (i.e. demographically) important, was estimated in the field by counting the number of settled corals every 3 d after a mass-spawning of Acropora corals. We found that ~90% of the total recruits settled within 8 d after spawning. The number of swimming larvae also peaked from the fifth to the seventh day after spawning and decreased rapidly on the ninth day. Although we could not determine whether the coral larvae remained around the natal reef or if larval supply from upstream regions concentrated in this study area, no multiple peaks were found in the settlement pattern of Acropora corals. This finding supports the hypothesis that even broadcast spawners adopt the strategy of selfrecruitment, at least in a single generation (i.e. settlement pattern was influenced by intrinsic controls such as larval behavior). Otherwise, this short, intensive settlement pattern could be a region-specific event because the result was obtained from only a single reef during a single study year (i.e. extrinsic controls such as hydrodynamics); in this case, these areas should be preferentially designated as 'protected' because such intensive settlement would be important to the resilience of Acropora corals.KEY WORDS: Larval dispersal · Self-recruitment · Mass spawning · Vertical dynamics · Settlement panel Resale or republication not permitted without written consent of the publisher

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An Ancient Chemosensory Mechanism Brings New Life to Coral Reefs

Cited by 180 publications

References 13 publications

Larvae of Pocillopora damicornis (Anthozoa) settle and metamorphose in response to surface-biofilm bacteria

Larvae of Pocillopora damicornis (Anthozoa) settle and metamorphose in response to surface-biofilm bacteria

Degradation and restoration of coral reefs: Experience in Okinawa, Japan

Rapid in situ settlement following spawning by Acropora corals at Ishigaki, southern Japan

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